Recently a friend announced a cancer diagnosis and the need for treatment. Her approach has impressed me. She posts insightful spiritual axioms that gut me and I’m not the sick one. Things like how we are never promised anything in life but we can choose how to react to it, how we can be a bit more curious than frightened by the unknown, and how we can see our circumstances as a voluntary act rather than a victim’s plight.  My friend isn’t so much brilliant as she is willing. Willing to read the words of Pema Chodron, Joseph Campbell, Jeanne DuPrau, and Elizabeth Gilbert, willing to search for solace and find a way to hold herself as she addresses her situation. Like the lotus flower rises through mud and reaches for sunshine, my friend refuses to wallow. Instead, she will root to expand. Take me along on this unexpected journey. Ask me for small favors. A meal, a ride, a listening ear. I am honored.